Minutes of the Second Winter 02 Meeting
of the Major Excursions Committee
The meeting was convened at 10:10 AM by T.Walley Williams at his house in Belmont. The
minutes of the previous meeting were discussed. The Linda Cooper canoeing trip in the Everglades did
occur; it had problems. The Cooper hiking trip to New Zealand, #0110, was canceled. The Bob Funk day
hiking trip to Anza Borego, #0120, did not occur but the Pam Lewis backpacking trip to Anza Borego,
#0121, did occur. The minutes were accepted with these corrections.
The purpose of the meeting was a discussion of the consultant=s analysis of the Committee=s
operations and the formation of plans to upgrade operations to satisfy the objections. Peter Van de Water
and Jan had provided their analysis by e-mail before the meeting. Tom Carruthers brought his thoughts in
written form to the meeting. The President had spoken the previous week of absolutes - the requirements
that must be met as soon as possible. Kathy Byers as the staff representative was asked what these
absolutes are. She felt that the consultant=s report and the Task Force report indicated a number of
essential items:
a newsletter to leaders published on a regular basis
written assessment of a leader=s skills and qualifications
written recommendations for leaders
evaluation of current leaders
Jan asked for help in preparing the form to collect information on a leader=s skills and qualifications. This
information should include technical skills information.
T.Walley suggested that the Committee find five issues to focus on. There should be a hazards
(safety) check list. One of these hazards is driving - questions to ask about a leader=s or participants
driving. Should a Committee member review each trip proposal for the hazards present in the trip? The
leader could then be asked to address these hazards. It was noted that driving is not a problem just for
MEC but a problem for all AMC activities. A page in the Handbook should give guidelines for leader and
participant driving on trips. The Committee had mixed feelings as to whether hired drivers were safer. A
leader needs to replace drivers felt to be unsafe immediately; this requires courage on the part of the leader.
A file of information on where drivers can be found would help leaders when planning their trip.
The trip application form should have a list of common hazards and ask leaders for others that
apply to their trip. The conclusion of this discussion was that the Committee has been using a poor
approval system. Appendix B of the consultant=s report is Trip Planning Guidelines. Some of the trip
proposals received are close to fulfilling this description. The Committee considered how to separate easy
trips from difficult trips - should there be different requirements for acceptance? The staff is in the process
of improving medical criteria thus the Committee need not consider these problems. There should be
guidelines that leaders can use for screening participants.
The consultant=s report recommends that staff be in charge of leader qualification. Kathy thought
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that the report did not intend this but that such qualification should be a staff -volunteer partnership. After
questionnaires have been summarized by staff they should come to Jan. The Committee should be
informed of any problems that require further study.
Kathy reported that Alex had told the Executive Board that 50% of trips had questions about the
conduct of the trip. This did not agree with his report to the Committee at the summer 2001 meeting. She
felt that Alex=s report reflected the status of trips when the report was made. The Committee was
disconcerted that such a report would be made without its knowledge or an opportunity to defend itself.
For the future it was asked that T.Walley and Jan be notified of problems surfacing because of the trip
questionnaires and the Committee be allowed to deal with the problems before staff intervened. Kathy
stated that she has not consistently received participant lists and itineraries before trips departed. She was
told that this is a continuing problem.
It was concluded that the financial report for a trip is not a key issue at this point. T.Walley
suggested that such reports should include worksheets and a listing of checks received. The question of
the ratio of leaders to participants is of greater importance because of the changes in Park Service
regulations and the introduction of intermediate difficulty backpacks. The quality of the participant=s
experience is important.
Further discussion of the trip approval system emphasized that proposals should include trip
details in writing. Proposals should be read by a staff member and a MEC member. New leaders should
appear in person at the meeting where their proposal is considered. When a trip application is submitted, it
will appear on Bob Goeke=s trip list.
Jan reported that Merri Fox found a coleader using the list from the Leadership Training
Workshop.
The fall meeting of the Club will be in Virginia. It was noted that the Committee should assure
that sufficient of its members will attend if it meets with the Club. Otherwise it should have a separate
meeting at about the same time and needs to publicize that fact.
Jan had talked to Peter Hill about his Malta and Sicily trip, #0225, but had no luck in reactivating
it. The Committee wondered if he intended to run it as a private trip but agreed they had no control over
such action.
The meeting continued with informal discussion over lunch.
Returning to business, Kathy suggested that the Committee have a Trip Coordinator who receives
trip applications. The Coordinator then sends the application to three members for evaluation. The
members are chosen for their knowledge of the trip=s area, the skills necessary on the trip and general
experience with Major Excursions. One of these members meets with the prospective leader in person. If
these members return a mixed or poor report, the trip will be considered by the entire Committee.
It was suggested that new leaders might choose an experienced leader as coleader.
Having considered these proposals it was suggested that the Committee needs to meet regularly in
the summer for trip approvals. Another suggestion for trip approvals was a two tier system where
telephone approval would be given for trips by experienced leaders in North America.
The task of the trip approval system is to decrease the risk of problems on trips. Melissa, who will
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be the Committee=s representative to the Club Executive Board=s subcommittee, analyzed Kathy=s
suggestion using 20 trips and 12 members. (Some Committee members are apt to be away during any
evaluation period). Each member would have to read five trips. Aside from the burden on the
Coordinator, this requires a significant block of time from the other members. The Committee felt that a
more feasible method needs to be found. The current effort is to satisfy the Executive Board
subcommittee. In the past provisional approvals have been used.
For the upcoming meeting, the spring meeting, trip proposals will be required to be submitted two
weeks before the meeting. Three members will evaluate each proposal.
It was suggested that if the Coordinator sees that the trip meets all criteria then it doesn=t need to
be read by Committee members, (this should apply to established leaders and domestic trips).
Melissa stated that she is prepared to attend the subcommittee meeting. The Committee concluded
that the leaders need to be informed of the new deadline for trip proposals and the existence of the summer
meeting. Thus a leaders= newsletter is needed as soon as possible. T.Walley expects to send it out in
three weeks (after he returns from business travel). A new application to lead a trip form is needed. The
meeting in April should have a morning portion for consideration of trips and an afternoon portion for
Committee work. The Handbook should delineate Committee Policies (which must be adhered to) and
Guidelines (which are suggestions of the best method)
The summer meeting was scheduled for Saturday, June 8. Tentatively it will be at Trish Niece=s
house beginning at 10 AM.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Elizabeth Goeke
Secretary
Those present: T.Walley Williams
Melissa Wenig
Tom Carruthers
Peter Van de Water
Jan Taylor
Guests:
Betsy Goeke
Trish Niece
Bob Funk
Katherine Byers (staff)
Ledge Clayton
The End
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